


If Wishes Were Dreams

by Savvycalifragilistic



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: (later) - Freeform, Canon-Typical The Spiral Content (The Magnus Archives), Gerard Keay Lives, Gertrude Robinson is a bitch and I hate her so much, Happy Ending, Hospitals, Hurt/Comfort, I swear to God, M/M, Michael Shelley Lives, Michael becomes an artifact of the Spiral, Sannikov Land, Tags Are Hard, the ending will be happy i promise you, we just gotta have the boys be sad for a while
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-13 11:08:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29027733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Savvycalifragilistic/pseuds/Savvycalifragilistic
Summary: “Yes, my compass is in my pocket.” Michael smiles as he pulls it out. “I keep it with me always. I’ll never get lost again thanks to you.”But he does get lost, and the only proof he ever existed is the small compass Gertrude brings back from Sannikov Land. Gerry clings to the only reminder of their love as he throws himself into his work, sure that he’s finally fallen out of reach of happiness - yet he can’t help noticing the way his luck slowly begins to improve, or the strange, twisting colors lurking in the corner of his eye.
Relationships: Gerard Keay/Michael Shelley
Comments: 25
Kudos: 30





	1. I'll See You Later

**Author's Note:**

> A quick note of thanks before we start!  
> Kira... if it wasn't for you I NEVER could have gotten into TMA. I was complaining to them one day like "Oh, woe is me, I can't focus on the words of a podcast" and they (in all their infinite glory) said "Why don't you read the transcripts while you listen?" And then it was like, cue shocked pikachu face and I listened to every episode in less than a month...  
> HUGE thanks to [Georgie](%E2%80%9Dgod_commissioned_me%E2%80%9D) for encouraging me to write this thing. Their fic Library Magic is literally one of my biggest sources of serotonin. If you haven't read it, PLEASE go now. Georgie, thank you so much for literally everything you've helped me with over the past few months. Will you go to prom with me? ;)

“I just wish I knew where you were going, Michael. Or how you’re getting there. Gertrude didn’t say anything about your trip?”  
“Well, she said we’d be going to… oh I can’t remember. She told me to dress warm and pack light! I’ll take pictures for you, and see if there’s a funny lighter in one of the stores.”  
“Do you have the-”  
“Yes, my compass is in my pocket.” Michael smiles as he pulls it out. “I keep it with me always. I’ll never get lost again thanks to you.”  
Gerry smiles as he runs a finger along the edge of the compass he bought Michael as a half joke, remembering the time Michael got lost on his way to Gerry’s home. He ended up arriving an hour late with cotton candy, thanks to an accidental detour leading to the circus that was in town. His smile fades as he thinks back on the things Gertrude has asked of him… that she’s demanded that he do. He glances up.  
“Michael, Gertrude isn’t… she’s not…”  
Michael laughingly brushes off Gerrys worries. “Gerry, I can handle a frail old woman. This is my chance to prove myself! To show Ms. Robinson I can be helpful. You know, I’m looking forward to traveling. I’ve never even been out of London before!”  
“You’ve always been helpful, Michael.”  
Michael laughs his strange frail laugh. “Whatever you say, my soul.”  
Gerry feels his heart skip a beat. “My heart, you’re such a sneak. You know I can’t argue when you say that type of thing to me.”  
“That's why I say it! I love you. I’ll see you when I get back, we can have pancakes”  
“Only if they’re the Michael special.”  
“Who do you think I am? Of course. Blueberry smiles and whipped cream. I never eat pancakes any other way.”  
They hug. Gerry places his hand on Michael's face, staring into his hypnotizing heterochromatic eyes and Michael leans into it, blushing.  
“Stay safe while I’m gone okay? Keep drinking water, I don’t want you to get those headaches again.”  
“Okay,” Gerry says fondly. “You’re so good to me. What did I do to deserve you?”  
Michael leans down to kiss Gerrys forehead, and Gerry breathes in Michaels aftershave, cherishing this moment of peace before they have to separate.  
Then Gertrude stalks out of her office; straight back, cold eyes, unsmiling face, “Michael. You’ve talked long enough, we need to catch our boat.”  
“Come home soon,” Gerry says, putting all his hope into those three words.  
Michael smiles as he grabs his bag. He pulls out his compass from his jeans and says “Always.”  
And as they leave, Michael glancing back for one last shared smile with Gerry, Gerry can’t help the clench in his stomach at the mention of a boat. Surely it’s not… no, Gertrude hates the Lukas’s.  
It’ll be fine. And when Michael gets back they’ll have smiley-face pancakes.


	2. Sannikov Land

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael looks forward to helping Ms. Robinson on her trip, but as they get closer to their destination something seems... off.

It’s cold. Which, Michael supposes, he should have expected. Ms. Robinson did tell him to dress warm. They’re on Peter Lukas’ ship, which came as a real surprise. Michael had always been under the impression that she hated the whole Lukas family. But, working in the archives has always been a bit… confusing. Ms. Robinson would say one thing and then do another or mention something but refuse to go into detail. Even Gerry, his lovely boyfriend (Oh, and doesn’t that bring a smile to his face even now after they’ve been together for over a year), would be in intense conversation with her and then, as soon as Michael walked in, he would clam up. Gerry always smiled and promised they weren’t talking about him but it was always a curious thing.  
“We’re about 10 minutes out. You don’t need to bring anything with you. It will only take a short time,” Ms. Robinson says as she comes up to him, leaning on the railings.   
“Where are we headed again?” Michael asks, taking out the world map he had gotten from an abandoned desk in the archives, “Y-You mentioned Sannikov Land? I haven’t been able to find it.”  
“You wouldn’t be able to.”  
“Oh, oh well… uhm.. okay. So what will we be doing when we get there?”  
“You will be entering…” And here she pauses, glancing at him from the side of her eye. Michael feels a shiver go up his spine that has nothing to do with the cold sea air.  
She looks so small and delicate against the cold sea. Michael shrugs off his jacket, not waiting for her to complete her sentence, and places it around her shoulders.   
“It’s so cold out here, Ms. Robinson. You told me to pack warm and you hardly look fit to be outside!”  
She puts her hands into his pockets as Michael stands near her, slightly shivering in the cold, pleased that he was able to help keep her warm.   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Michael steps down from the ship, reaching a hand out to steady Ms. Robinson as she steps onto the snow-covered land. She pushes past him, steadier than she had ever acted before.  
With every step inland, something in her seems to grow more and more dangerous. It was something Michael had only ever seen happen twice before. Both times, she looked at him and it felt as though she saw into his soul. It felt like she put on a mask of a delicate, elderly woman and the mask only slipped in times right before shit hit the fan. And here she was, cold eyes ignoring every attempt at conversation on Michael's part. It was as though Michael had known a facade of who she was now. The delicate, elderly woman he had worked under for years was turning into a battle scarred and frightening woman who shut him down every time he tried to start a conversation about where they were or what they were going to be doing.  
After what feels like days and, at the same time, just a few minutes of traveling through the snow covered area, they come to what looks like a door. Michael stops in his tracks, hand reaching for the comfort of his compass from Gerry that had been tucked safely away in his jean pocket. Ms. Robinson hands him a map, gesturing towards the door.  
“Ms. Robinson? What… what is this? A door?”  
She turns to look at him, disdain clear in her eyes, “This is what I brought you here for.”   
Michael stares at her and then at the door that appears to have grown straight from the ground itself. He walks a quick lap around it, seeing nothing to banish the image of a door growing like a dandelion in the sidewalk. As he comes back to the front (what he thought was the front, Ms. Robinson was standing next to him, right? How did she end up so far away?), Ms. Robinson nods at the door impatiently. Michael glances to the door and opens it, expecting to see nothing but the opposite side.   
Michael’s jaw drops as he looks through the open door.   
It is not the rest of the forest. Inside the door is… something. There’s no way it could be the hallway it appears to be and yet… Michael can see more doors branching off the main hallway, floor length mirrors that look as though you can step right through them, and even a carpet with a pattern oddly reminiscent of bowling alleys.   
“Ms. Robinson, how- what- I don’t understand? How is this possible?” he asks, failing to tear his gaze away from the impossibility in front of him.   
He is so focused, in fact, that he doesn’t hear the footsteps approaching from behind.  
“I need your help, Michael. Find the heart of the Spiral and destroy it. You’ll know it when you see it. I gave you a map. All you need to do is use it.”  
He startles, not realizing she had gotten so close. He turns to look at her, hoping for some sign that she cared for him, that she felt his fear, that she felt anything, and only seeing her uncaring, cold eyes. She takes a step towards him and he unconsciously takes a step back. She looks him up and down, nods to herself, and pushes him into the strange hallway.  
He twists to catch himself on his arms, rather than hurt his back, and as he turns around with a shout of fear he sees her slam the door shut.

The door disappears before his eyes and he feels afraid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Can't wait to share the next chapter with y'all.  
> -I don't have a set schedule for posting, lol. Teaching in a pandemic is... an experience.  
> -I think I mentioned this but without Georgie, this fic LITERALLY would not exist. They gave me the idea and tell me when my words don't make sense. Thank you!!!  
> -go drink some water

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! If you're going to leave a comment, please use kind words. I will read them all and I will scream internally (and externally too)


End file.
